


Face Myself

by PrincessRaptor



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Character Death, Crossover, Explicit Language, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-05-04 19:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14599983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessRaptor/pseuds/PrincessRaptor
Summary: "I am a shadow, the true self." Everyone has thoughts they'd rather suppress than acknowledge. What happens when you have to face these them? What does it have to do with a murder in Gravity Falls? And what is the strange show at midnight?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off the ideas and world of Persona 4, but will most likely have no characters from the game. I will be trying to explain things so even those who haven't played the game will understand, if I fail at that please let me know so I can make things more clear! There will be some character death and violence as the story goes on, and one character does die to kick things off.

“Have you heard about the midnight channel?” Mabel looked up as Candy leaned over her desk. “They say if you look at the TV right at midnight on a rainy night, you’ll see your soul mate!” Mabel glanced out the window where dark clouds were looming. Of course, it was Oregon. There was a lot of rain.

“That sounds fake. Besides, I already have a soul mate.” Grenda grunted as her phone buzzed. “A really, really, _really_ needy one! I swear, he can’t get through the day without sending me a dozen texts!” She didn’t answer it but leaned forward. “But if you two are interested you should try it.”

“Psssh. As if. Psssh.” Mabel waved her hand but was actually dying to try it. Since entering high school, she and Dipper had been trying to stay away from weird stuff, but to see your soul mate on TV? It sounded so cool. But still, she really shouldn’t.

And yet, five to midnight she found herself sitting on the floor in the living room. The TV was off and the sound of rain could be heard on the roof. Waddles was sitting next to her, munching on a potato. Dipper, thankfully, was dead asleep, snoring in his bed. And if Dipper didn’t know . . .

The chime of the clock signaled midnight, and nothing happened to the TV. She was half relieved, half disappointed when nothing happened. She was about to stand when the TV flickered to life. It was hard to see through the static, but someone was there. They looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t tell who it was. Reaching out, she put her hand on the TV screen. “Who . . . ”

Following her lead, Waddles did the same, putting his snout on the screen. No, that wasn’t quite right. _Into_ the screen. Mabel yelped and jerked back, staring as Waddles pulled back, blinking up at her and then going back to his half eaten potato.

Maybe she had just been seeing things. Hesitantly she reached out and touched the TV. Solid glass. As it should be. “Maybe I’m just tired . . . ” Trying to convince herself that was it, she headed to the bedroom, Waddles waddling behind her, potato in his mouth.

 

The next day however, found Mabel struggling to concentrate. She tried to think of a way to bring it up to her friends, but ended up simply avoiding any mention of Waddles, potatoes or the midnight channel. They would think she was being crazy or just exaggerating. But Dipper . . . that could be different. It was still raining and was supposed to until the early am. Maybe tonight she could get Dipper to see what she had. Not to mention it could confirm that wasn’t all just some really weird dream. It did still seem surreal.

“Hey Dipper,” she started after school as they walked home. “So, I don’t know if you heard about it but apparently there’s this midnight channel thing.”

“Oh yea, I heard some of the girls in my history class talking about it. It sounds stupid, but I guess anything goes in Gravity Falls. It’s probably best not to get involved though.”

Shit, she was worried he might say something like that. “Well, the thing about that is, um . . . ”

“You want to try it? Mabel, that’s such a dumb idea! I thought we said no more weird stuff while in high school! I mean, I don’t want to ruin my chances at getting through my classes by like, being harassed by gnomes or something.”

Grinning nervously, Mabel laughed. “Right, I agree. I was just curious but yea, it’s a bad idea!” She didn’t know how to tell him about this. Maybe she’d just try it again that night and film what happened. That way if the TV did anything weird this time she could at least show Dipper. Yea. It was okay to do it to find out what was going on with Waddles. She needed to make sure he’d be okay.

 

Five to midnight found her in front of the TV again, looking at Waddles nervously. As the minutes ticked by she began to doubt the sanity of this idea. Nothing was going to happen. Nothing at all. Last night had been crazy and nothing and—static.

This time she could make out the figure a bit clearer. And seeing the pompadour she scowled. Gideon. Maybe this was all some dumb scheme of his to try and get her attention again. Like she’d see him and think he was her soul mate. Gross. “Ugh, waste of time. Come on Waddles.” But as she called him she saw his snout was once again pressed into the TV, and then his head as he seemed to be looking inside. Grabbing him, Mabel yanked back, falling onto her back with Waddles on her stomach. She didn’t know what that had been about, but she did not want to see Waddles trying to go through the TV to Gideon. Waddles squirmed in her arms, trying to get free, but she didn’t trust him—or that staticy Gideon she had seen—so she kept a tight hold on him until they were back in the bedroom with the door closed.

It was only when she was settling down that she realized she had forgotten to record it.

 

The next morning was foggy, and she could barely see her hand in front of her face. Walking with Dipper, she toyed with the idea of bringing up the whole Waddles head in the TV thing. She didn’t want to get into that dumb channel, knowing she would get a ‘told you so’ from her brother but really, what was going on? If this could be dangerous to Waddles . . .  “Hey, Dipper? I think something weird is going on with Waddles.” Still a little hesitant she glanced over at him. “Last night he put his head into the TV.”

“Was he trying to eat something on a commercial again? I don’t think that—”

“No! It, his head was INSIDE the TV Dipper! Like, his whole head. It wasn’t normal!”

That made Dipper pause, but then he nodded slightly. “Um, alright. Well that’s not. Are you totally sure that’s what happened? I mean, completely?”

“Of course I am! I don’t know how, when I touched the TV it was glass but his whole head was inside it!” Mabel shivered, ducking her head down a little into her sweater. “I’m worried something is wrong with him. I don’t want anything happening to Waddles.”

Dipper put his hand on Mabel’s shoulder. “We’ll ask Uncle Ford about it after school. For now let’s just get to school. Waddles will be fine till we get home. I promise.” Dipper really hoped he wasn’t going to be proven a liar. If something did happen to Waddles, it would break his sister’s heart.

“Thanks. I hope it’s nothing, it just really freaked me out.” Sighing, Mabel adjusted her back pack. She’d almost feinted being sick to stay home and make sure nothing happened but she was pretty sure her grunkles or Dipper would notice.

Reaching the school she headed in to her homeroom with Dipper.  The sound of sirens were heard in the distance but no one really thought much of it. The police in Gravity Falls were . . . questionable at best, and had used the siren to signal a donut run or a race to get to the diner. It wasn’t until the PA crackled to life halfway through second period that she realized something was amiss. The teachers were called to the office _immediately_ , and the class was left to their own devices. Normally it would be a moment to gossip with Candy and Grenda. This time it was just time to worry about Waddles. What if something had happened. Waddles had vanished and that’s what this was all about. What if he had completely vanished into the TV and she never saw him again?! What if—

A hand on her shoulder made her jump and she looked up to see Dipper. “What is it?” She asked, noticing immediately how grim he looked. He didn’t say a word but handed over his phone. Her heart sunk, terrified it was a message from her grunkles about Waddles. Instead, what she saw caught her completely off guard.

_Gravity Falls News Blog: The News when you Need it!_

**_Famed Gravity Falls Native, Gideon Gleeful, found dead!_ **

“What?” Mabel breathed out the word, scanning the article. It was posted mere moments before, a picture of police around what seemed to be a body hidden under a sheet. The article said that the body had been found just outside the bounds of Gravity Falls High School, suspended in the telephone wires. It was unknown how long it was there, but a student leaving early had noticed it thanks to the fog beginning to clear.

“That, this, it can’t be . . . ” Mabel didn’t know what to even think about this. Her mind was blank with shock. No matter what she had thought or expected after last night, this hadn’t been it. And someone she knew . . . they had never been close, not since he’d been so creepy that one summer, but Gideon . . .

“It’s true. I mean, you know Wendy wouldn’t make something like this up.” He tapped the writers initials, W.C., signaling that it was indeed their friend. She was one of the dozen people who worked on the blog to keep it up to date, and like Dipper said, Wendy wouldn’t joke about something like this. So it was true?

“No, no way . . . ” She shook her head, suddenly feeling quite ill. Her emotions were all over the place and she just wanted to go home, go to sweater town and hug her pig.

The door opening made her look up, and the teacher cleared his throat. “There’s been an incident near school grounds, and school is being closed for the day. Your guardians will be contacted to pick you all up. Until then, please remain in the classroom. No one will be allowed to go home without being picked up by a guardian or emergency contact.”

Mabel nodded, but she barely heard the words. Her world was spinning still. Gideon . . . To think he was dead—! Only last night she’d wanted to never think of him again but this, it was so cruel!

“Mabel, Grunkle Stan is here.” So fast? She looked up and only then realized she’d been sitting there for hours lost in her thoughts. It was almost noon. Nodding she stood up, not protesting as Dipper took her backpack for her. Silently she followed him down the stairs and to the school gate. Her stride did speed up when she saw Stan and Ford by the Stanmobile, and she practically ran to her uncles, clinging to Stan as soon as he was in reach. “Grunkle Stan, it, he, Gideon, he’s!” Her eyes clenched shut, unable to get out the words. Her grunkle pet her hair in an awkward, soothing motion and then guided her to the car.

“I know sweetie, Ford and I heard about it. Come on, let’s get back to the shack.” He paused a moment and then offered: “I brought Waddles to help cheer you up.” Hearing that did make her more willing to get into the car, where she immediately pulled her pig into her lap, hiding her face in his soft belly. He was so warm and felt so . . . _safe_. Like nothing could get her as long as he was here with her.

She didn’t let go of Waddles until well after they were home. Stan and Ford were at the table, talking in hushed whispers while Dipper and Mabel sat in front of the TV, which was firmly off less news pop up. Dipper’s eyes were on his phone, no doubt reading updates on the blog, while Mabel had finally let Waddles go only to instead use him as a pillow, resting her head on him and trying not to think of anything. But she couldn’t stop. Her mind was racing, and she kept thinking of Gideon, of what had happened. Dead. Murdered, Dipper had added on the way home. It was the only way that explained how the body got there.

It was awful. Just awful. That someone she knew died like that. _But is it?_ She froze a second as she heard the voice in her head. It had sounded like a distorted version of her own voice. Looking around she frowned. That was strange. “Dipper? I think I’m going to lay down in the bedroom with Waddles.” Her brother looked up from his phone to nod and she headed upstairs, squeezing her pig as she carried him. Mabel still didn’t want to leave Waddles alone. After what had happened today, she couldn’t stand it if something happened to Waddles too. After that horrible thing that had happened . . . _horribly funny. Good ridden._ Shaking her head she looked around, but again there was nothing. Maybe she was losing it because of stress. A nap, that would help.

At least, it surely would have if she’d been able to sleep. Instead she stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. Waddles was resting beside her, letting out little squeaky snores, but even if the sound was usually comforting and lulling to her, right now she couldn’t stand to close her eyes for too long.

She didn’t know how long it had been when Dipper came into the room. “How you holding up?” he asked, sitting on the edge of her bed. “I know this is really . . . yea.” The bed moved a little as he shifted, but Mabel didn’t look away from the spot on the ceiling. “Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford are going to go get Chinese food for dinner, I know you and Waddles like those noodles. They just left, so we should go get the table set up, alright?”

Letting out a long sigh Mabel nodded, standing and glancing at Dipper. She knew her twin well enough to tell he was worried about her. Mabel tried hard not to let anything get her down but this time she couldn’t help it.

Still, she headed downstairs with Dipper, hoping that setting the table might distract her from the intrusive thoughts that kept appearing in her head. She could focus on grabbing the silverware, the plates, a few chopsticks, walk past Waddles with his head in the TV, grab some paper towels and—

“Waddles!” Mabel tossed the silverware and plates onto Stan’s chair and lunged for the pig as his fat little body went further into the TV. This time though he didn’t just pop right out. Instead he seemed to fight against her, as if there was a heap of potatoes inside the TV he couldn’t wait to get. “Dipper!” Mabel called out, unwilling to let go of Waddles even as her own hand sunk into the TV. “Help! Waddles is going inside the TV!” She tugged more, but it didn’t result in anything but Waddles squirming more and jerking her forearm inside.

“Mabel, what—!” Her brother was at the doorway and she looked back. “Ohmygod, okay, Don’t worry! I have a plan!”

What that plan was, Mabel didn’t know, because Waddles jerked again suddenly and she lost her balance, tumbling forward, bracing herself to slam her head on the TV, but instead fell with Waddles into the TV, leaving Dipper alone in the living room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After falling through the TV with Waddles, what is in store for Mabel in this strange world. And who is this impostor that looks like her and seems to know her innermost thoughts?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Another chapter! Sorry for the delay, apparently saying "I'll try to keep it updated as frequently as possible" was the trigger for my house to have every issue imaginable. But here is the next chapter, and I'll hopefully have the next chapter out sooner!

“Waddles, quit it . . . ” Mabel grumbled, feeling her ever faithful piggy companion’s nose against her cheek. Lightly she moved her arm to swat at it, but as she made the movement Mabel realized there was a heaviness and soreness in her arm. No, not just her arm. It was throughout her whole body. Opening her eyes and slowly pushed herself up to sit and looked around, frowning in confusion at what she saw. “What’s going on . . . ?” the words were mumbled out as she looked down at Waddles, patting his head lightly. Wherever she was, there was so much fog it was almost impossible to see anything. She tried to remember what had happened before waking up, and for a moment her mind was completely blank. Then, slowly, it came to. The murder, going home, Waddles and the TV. “Dipper?” she called out, but there was no response. The only thing she could hear was some far away sound that was impossible to identify. Well, that and Waddles’ little piggy snorts.

Glancing down at him again she paused. “Wait, is that . . . ?” His eye wasn’t right. There was a star instead of a circle, just like back then. “Oh no, this isn’t some weird messed up world like Mabelland, right?” It didn’t have the same feel though. That place had been almost hypnotizing idyllic, this place felt heavy and _wrong._ Standing, she tried to peer through the fog, but saw nothing.

“Dipper!” She called again, a little more desperate. Her brother was always around when things got really bad. He had been trying to help, so where was he? Or had he ended up somewhere else? “Dipper! Come on, this isn’t funny!”

A tugging on her sweater made her look down. Waddles let go as soon as he had her attention and began walking into the fog. Desperate not to lose him too, Mabel followed. “Waddles, no! We need to stay here so Dipper can find us! When you’re lost, if you move around too then you’ll end up more lost!” Waddles didn’t seem to care as he trotted along, staying just in sight through the heavy fog. “Waddles!” All she got from her pig was a snort in return.

The area seemed to change. It was hard to tell how, but the ground had turned from metal to concrete and the light had gotten dimmer. It was only now she realized how bright the first area had been. Now it was darker and the fog only seemed to be getting thicker. She looked around as she walked, and was able to make out moving shadows in the fog, but if they were real—or who they were—she wasn’t sure. At least she could still see Waddles in front of her, and having someone there, wherever here was, did help. But she kinda wanted to get back to the starting area, where it was brighter and felt less menacing. There was just something about this place . . .

Waddles finally stopped, sitting down and snorting. Mabel looked at him and then turned where he was looking. There was something through the fog, though she had to take a step closer to understand what it was. “The shack!” Oh thank god. She had thought she wouldn’t be able to find anything in this place, but home was right here. Mabel wasted no time bolting for the door, opening it up and stepping in. “Dipper! Boy, do I have a ton to tell you!” Silence. Maybe he was looking for her somewhere? Stepping in she noticed that something wasn’t right. This looked like the shack, but it also looked wrong. There were tears in the wallpaper and stains on the carpet. Stains that looked like—“Dipper?! Grunkle Stan?! Grunkle Ford?!” She was beginning to get panicked. Moving down the hall she turned into the living room and gasped. The wall was plastered with papers, all from that blog. Pictures of the police, the sheet over Gideon’s body. “Ah, what is this . . . ?” Backing up a little she slipped on something and fell down. Looking at what she slipped in she almost screamed. Red. Was that—“Blood?” Scrambling back, she felt her back hit the wall. What was going on?! Why were there so many pictures of this horrible thing all around?!

“Horrible? Hardly.” The voice cut through the air and Mabel turned her head to look. What she saw only scared her more. At first it was like she was looking into a mirror. Another Mabel was standing there but she immediately noticed two key differences: The sweater this other Mabel was wearing was black with a yellow eye on it, and this other Mabel’s eyes were yellow. But did that mean that this was some illusion by Bill? Was he messing with her mind?

 “Oh come on Mabel. You think I’m an illusion? I’m you.” Flipping her hair back, the other Mabel walked forward and offered her hand with a smile. “Come on silly. Stand up. You’re making a mess out of your sweater! Don’t you remember how hard it is to wash blood out of?” She laughed, still offering her hand but Mabel didn’t think she could move.

“That, that’s not, you’re not me . . . ” She whispered, shaking her head.

“Of course I am! I’m the honest you. The one who’s not afraid to say how glad I am that Gideon is gone!” Another laugh came from the other Mabel and she smiled, finally letting her offered hand drop. “I mean how long has it been? And that creep would still try to make a pass? Never getting the hint, bringing up the one time we held hands, acting like he had a chance. It’s about time someone offed him!”

Mabel shook her head, pushing herself to stand. “That’s not true! I’m not glad he’s dead! It’s horrible that Gideon died! I would never want someone to die, or be happy about it.”

“Wow, that’s a load.” Snorting, the other Mabel crossed her arm. “We both know that’s a lie. If it had been anyone else, sure it would be horrible. But Gideon? So. Happy.”

“Shut up! I don’t think like that! I’m a good person!” Mabel took a step forward towards her double, sure this had to be a trick of Bill’s. “I would never want something bad to happen to anyone! I, I’m a good person!”

Rolling her eyes, the double shook her head and shrugged. “You really won’t believe me? If you think you’re such a good person maybe you should try being honest with yourself. You hated Gideon as much as you hated anyone. It was like that unicorn said way back when; you’re not even close to pure of heart. Man, we’re one of the least good people ever!” Laughing she moved closer to Mabel, and Mabel felt herself rooted to the spot even though she wanted to turn away from this. “Just be honest Mabel. You know you’re not a good person. You broke that dumb pact with Dipper. Who wants to just study all the time? Finding out who our soul mate was, that was way more interesting.”

 “That, it was just one time! I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“More like didn’t care. And you watched again the next night. No no, don’t tell me. You’re going to say it was all for Waddles, right?” The other Mabel looked past Mabel where Waddles was, apparently having followed her into the shack. “Like hell. You knew it worked, so you wanted to see who your real soul mate was.”

“That’s not true!” Mabel felt like crying. “I was worried about him! His head went into the TV, what if something bad happened!”

“But the soul mate thing showed Gideon? What a laugh. Man, it’s a good thing Candy and Grenda didn’t ask about it. Course, I just could have made up something. Like hell I’d ever admit to seeing Gideon.”

“Shut up!” Mabel almost screamed the words, lunging forward to try and put her hand over the other Mabel’s mouth. Before she could though the other Mabel was shoving her back.

“Just admit it Mabel. We’re both the same.”

“No way! Never! There’s no way someone as mean as you could be me!” Waddles was at her side now, tugging at her sweater but she ignored him. “You’re not me! You’d never be me!”

The other Mabel paused a moment and then laughed, a rush of wind seemingly coming from nowhere and pushing Mabel back. “Not you, not you? Well if you insist, I guess I’ll be _ME!_ ” Dripping blackness seemed to consume the other Mabel and the original backed up, reaching down to grab Waddles as she did. If she just ran—but before she could even try to flee, the blacknessness was flung outwards from the other Mabel. Where the mirror image had stood now there was some sort of monstrous woman. Her face was angular, skin black as night with a yellow triangle across it. There were no other features on the face, no mouth or eyes or nose. Instead, a mouth was on the neck that wailed, the sound making a shiver go up Mabel’s spine. She had flowing hair, similar to Mabel’s but black and red and seeming caught on some unknown breeze with how it kept moving. Her head and neck met a huge black knitted sweater, four arms reaching out through tattered sleeves. Two arms held massive, sharp knitting needles, while the other two held onto chains. Straining at the chains were massive cats, fur covered in what appeared to be tar and blood dripping from their mouths. “Now I just need to finish by getting rid of you!” The hellish creature shrieked, stabbing down one of the giant needles right by Mabel with enough force to break the floor.

Waddles jumped out of her arms as Mabel fell back. “Waddles!” She cried, hoping he was going to be running away somewhere safe. Instead he launched himself at the monster. “No, leave him alone!” Mabel screamed, trying to push herself to stand, but finding her legs unable to work. The monster ignored her however, slamming both needles down towards the pig.

Before they could meet their mark however, there was a flash of light along with a loud squeal from Waddles himself. When the light faded both needles were blocked by a metal rake held in one hand by a massive boar. The boar was standing on two legs and dressed in some strange robes, and was blocking both Waddles and Mabel from the monster. “Stay back!” The boar roared, his free hand going to his belt and grabbing a bottle cinched onto it. Taking a great swallow it then roared out “ _AGI!”_ fire appearing from his mouth as bright flame as he did, causing the monstrous woman to scream. The giant boar let out a satisfied snort, stomping one foot down and bracing himself in front of Waddles and Mabel to protect them from harm.

A good thing too. Both the felines roared, a terrible high pitched shrieking sound echoing throughout the house. They then charged, slashing at the boar with their bloody claws before leaping back to be next to their master. She then attacked, jabbing her needles in quick strikes. Pulling back to survey her handiwork she laughed. “You think some dumb pig can protect you forever? I’ll make BACON out of him!”

Mabel looked at Waddles and then the boar, terrified about what might happen next. “No, don’t, don’t you dare!” But even as she spoke Mabel felt helpless in the face of this monster. Trying to fight off tears, she raised a hand to rub at her face. She’d never had to face danger like this alone. Dipper had always been there. A nudge at her arm made her look towards Waddles, who was staring up at her. Right, she wasn’t alone. Waddles, and this giant . . . boar . . . thing were here.

“A witch like you won’t have a chance, ha!” Twirling his rake the boar let out a rough but warm laugh. “I won’t let you past me!” He laughed again before stomping his feet and then lunging at the three. He used his rake to swipe at the cats, sending one flying into the other and their master to lose her hold on their chains. While they let out another cry, the boar swiped the rake at the monster, hitting her in the face and making her head snap to one side. Jolting and shaking, she let out a scream before reaching for the boar with all four arms. Her head tilted back all the way and the mouth on the neck let out a horrible shriek.

Straining against the arms, the boar tried to break free. Help came from an unexpected source: the chained cats, now free, lunged into the frey, knocking him away from the monster. Taking this as his opportunity, the boar grabbed the bottle and took another chug before letting out another wave of flame bellow from his mouth. The monster screamed and her cats struggled before seeming to melt into black puddles at her feet.

“No! You can’t! I won’t let you!” Enraged, the monster tried once more to stab out with her needles, but in her angered state she missed, ending up only stabbing the ground. “I won’t let you get rid of me! Some weaklings like you don’t have a chance!”

The boar didn’t reply verbally, letting the metal rake respond for him, bringing it down in one final bone crushing swing. The monster shuddered, trying to withstand, before falling backwards. Slowly the form seemed to melt away until just the yellow-eyed Mabel was sitting there, looking a little battered but still defiant. The boar snorted and then looked to Mabel. Looking at her double, sitting there, Mabel felt a twinge of something.

“I won’t let you get rid of me! You know the truth! I’m not going to just vanish! Even if you keep denying me I’ll still be here, always be here! You can’t deny the truth Mabel!”

Reaching out, Mabel braced herself on the large pig before pushing herself to her feet. “Maybe you’re right.” Her voice was soft and hesitant as she took one step, and then another, towards the yellow eyed version of herself. “Maybe I was kinda happy he was gone. I didn’t want to admit it, because I know it’s wrong, but he was always so persistent and creepy.” Letting out a sigh, Mabel lowered her eyes. “And maybe I was curious about the soul mate. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t care about Waddles!”

Shaking her head she sighed and then looked back at Waddles and the boar. “I hate when I act like this, so I thought I could just ignore it. I never wanted to admit to having such awful thoughts. But doing that just caused all this. I’m sorry Waddles.” Her eyes felt wet but she didn’t rub them away, instead reaching out for her pig as he trotted towards her. “I have to be braver to keep you safe, huh?” Looking back at the other Mabel, she tried to continue speaking but her words caught in her throat. Could she really admit to all those awful thoughts? That this, this horrible person was a part of her? It made her think back to that dumb unicorn, and how she had been so driven to prove she was a good person.

Ah, what was it that Wendy had hammered into her head after that mess? “I guess I still am stuck trying to be perfect, when that’s not who I really am. Maybe sometimes I’m crazy or upset or whatever. But that’s just part of being a woman. Ignoring that part of me makes me incomplete, and makes me do stupid stuff.” She almost laughed, remembering that list of so many good things she’d tried to do that one time. And all for nothing.

Walking forward, she held out her hand to the other her. “Even if I don’t want to admit it, you are me. All those thoughts I tried to suppress, they’re a part of me. I don’t have to be perfect. But I do need to be honest with myself about how I feel.”

The other Mabel smiled and took her hand, squeezing it a moment. “That’s right . . . I am thou, and thou art I.” As she spoke she began to float and light enveloped her. Once more the other Mabel was changing before her eyes, but this time there was no sense of malice. “Let me be the strength for you to overcome life’s hardships!” As the other Mabel spoke the light faded and where her double had stood was  someone new. The woman had flowing golden hair that obscured her face, and her body was clothed in a knitted robe of rainbow colors, accented by the shooting-star fashioned clasp that held it together.  Most astounding perhaps was that she was standing on a chariot, two massive cats the color of sunset pulling it. “I am Freya, your persona, and I will guide you in the trials to come. Do not lose sight of your true self Mabel.” With that she faded, and a card floated down into Mabel’s hand. One side was light blue with a mask design, while the other side had a I and a face with flames and hands outstretched. As soon as it touched her hands it vanished and she felt a warmth in her chest.

And then all she felt was an overwhelming exhaustion. Staggering, she was braced from falling by strong hands of the boar, who looked at her in concern. “You need to get out of here. Can you walk?” His voice was laced in concerned, and was echoed by a worried snort from Waddles.

“I, I think so, I’m just tired . . . ”

“Rest when you’re home. Our snout will lead the way.” The boar then faded, a similar card appearing for a second over Waddles before vanishing.

She did stagger a little again, but Mabel braced herself on a wall of the house. “Ah, come on Waddles. Let’s find the way out of this crazy place.” Waddles let out a cheerful sound and began sniffing, before heading back to the entrance of the shack. Wearily Mabel set to following, not wanting to do anything but get out of this crazy place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope my explanation of everything was clear. I tried really hard to make the battle scene make sense! I took Waddles' ability to summon his persona from Persona 3 and Koromaru. I didn't want to give anyone in here the Wild Card, so I had to have someone start with a Persona, and Waddles was my prime candidate! I also tried to put a lot of thought into what personas each person would have. I hope everyone enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After facing the monster and gaining the power of "persona," Mabel is less concerned about understanding what happened and more concerned about just being able to find her way home through the fog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So forget all that about updating fast. Life is not into that. Thanks for the kudos that have been left, and sorry for the delay!

It took a long time of stumbling through the fog to reach where they had started. At least, she thought it was where they had started. The floor under her feet was once more metal and it was bright even if it was still foggy as all hell. She wanted to sleep but this place really didn’t seem like it was ideal. She wanted her bed and her dumb brother and to not be in this fog anymore. Sighing, her feet finally stopped and she leaned over, panting a little. She was just so tired. That was probably why when Waddles head butted her, she was caught off guard and fell forward. She saw the TVs she was going to crash into and shrieked, holding out her hands, but instead of slamming into them she fell through them. The world went white and black in a dizzying pattern, and then she found herself being flung out.

“Oof! M-Mabel!? Mabel!” Dipper’s voice came from under her, and she looked down, blinking in surprise when she saw it was indeed her twin. Before she could say anything though there was a weight on her back and then Waddles was rolling off the twin pile, happily making little snorting sounds before trotting towards the kitchen to look for potatoes.

Trying to follow Waddles’ example she pushed herself to roll off Dipper, and managed to with a groan. Everything hurt, and as she stared up at the ceiling she figured there were worse places to fall asleep than the living room.

“Mabel! I was so worried! You and Waddles just vanished inside the TV, and when I tried I couldn’t figure out how, and I mean, there was never anything about that in the journal and you KNOW Grunkle Ford doesn’t use cell phones so I couldn’t get ahold of him!” Dipper’s voice was worried, and any other time she would be touched. But right now he just kept talking and focusing on his words was keeping her conscious and she just really really _really REALLY_ wanted to sleep.

“Dipper, I’m, pssh, I’m fine.” Her words were broken up a little by a yawn, and she closed her eyes. “Just, sleepy. Shhh. Let me, let me sleep . . . ” Even as she spoke she was beginning to drift off, sleep’s embrace far too tempting . . .

“No! Mabel!” Her shoulders were suddenly being grabbed and she was being shaken, her vision of the ceiling getting very jostled as her head bobbed back and forth. “What happened?! What’s wrong?! What do I tell Grunkle Ford?” His voice was laced with his obvious worry.

“Diiiiiiiiiiiiper,” she whined, not giving a damn about his worry. Who cared when there was sleep to be had? “’M fine. The giant boar protected me.” Yawning she rolled a little on her side, back to Dipper, hoping that would help.

It did not. “A giant boar?! What are you talking about?! You just vanished and now you’re back and so tired and I don’t know what happened to you! How do I know if you’re really okay?! What if you go to sleep and never wake up?! I couldn’t find you Mabel!”

“’m _fine_ Dippy.” How many times did she have to tell him. “’m just sleepy. Let me sleep, _please._ ” She didn’t hold out much hope for it, but she heard her twin sigh and put a hand on her head. No more talking came, and so it took only moments for Mabel to drift off into an exhausted rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a short chapter, but the next one will be up soon. I just couldn't figure out how to merge them to my satisfaction.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. This is the first fanfic I've written in years, and mostly posted at the behest of my wife. I'll try to keep it updated as frequently as possible. Comments or suggestions are always appreciated.


End file.
